


Out of a Jam

by Ray_Writes



Series: Tumblr Prompts [29]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 21:59:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14680317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ray_Writes/pseuds/Ray_Writes
Summary: Donna does her best to comfort her Spaceman in any crisis, big or small.





	Out of a Jam

**Author's Note:**

> Wanted to post a little something for you guys before I'm out of town for my sister's wedding. So nothing major, but hopefully you find this prompt fill from tumblr entertaining at the least. Enjoy!

Donna’s stomach growled. She rolled over. It growled again. With a sigh, she sat up and threw the covers off herself.

It was no surprise considering she’d skimped out a bit on dinner, having not been too keen on the space slug that had been placed down in front of her at the palace. A little snack would have her sorted for the rest of the night.

She poked her head out into the corridor cautiously. No sounds coming from the console room, and the lights were dim. That probably meant Spaceman was either holed up in the library with a book or wherever he slept. Either way, the coast was clear.

Not that she felt she had anything to fear in that regard. The Doctor would never make fun of her, but she still didn’t want him finding her digging into the ice cream in the dead of night.

She made her way to the darkened kitchen easily enough. But before she could enter through the archway, a stuffy voice said, “Mind the glass.”

Donna shrieked and jumped back into the corridor. Her heart pounding, she reached for the wall and flicked on the light.

“Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” She demanded once the room was properly illuminated. Only the Doctor wasn’t sitting at the table like she’d assumed. It took her a moment to locate him on the floor.

He had his back against one of the counters and his knees drawn up to his chest. In his hands was a large shard of glass with globs of yellow something dripping off it onto the floor. More glass pieces were scattered about, and she sent up a thanks to wherever that she’d had the presence of mind to put on her slippers.

“I dropped the jam,” he said, rather needlessly as she could see that. Tired and disoriented as she was from the unexpected fright, Donna chose not to voice that particular comment aloud; it hadn’t escaped her notice that the Doctor didn’t quite sound himself. She watched with some amazement as he wiped at his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket.

He cleared his throat and said, “There should be a broom in one of the closets.”

“I’ll get it,” Donna decided. She did so and dropped the dustpan by his feet for him to hold while she swept. Only once the last little slivers of glass had been swept up did he drop the shard he’d been hanging onto on top of the pile. Then he stood with his back to her to dump it all in the bin.

“We’ll have to mop to get the jam off the floor properly.”

“Mm-hm.”

“Spaceman, what’s happening?”

“You found me crying on the kitchen floor in the middle of the night surrounded by a shattered jam jar,” he reminded her.

“No, I mean what’s  _ really _ happening?” Donna waited till he turned back round to face her. “You’re not exactly one for waterworks.”

He scratched at the back of his neck. “Um. Well, I don’t know. It- the jam came from Garuia.”

“Planet of the jam?” She guessed.

That got just the smallest smile out of him. “Something like that. Anyway, it’s gone now. And that was the last jar I had, and I suppose it just sort of...hit me. How fast it all goes, you know. One minute everything’s fine, you’re sneaking a bit of banana jam in the middle of the night, and the next—” He stopped short of finishing his sentence and shrugged. “Still, it’s just jam.”

Donna shook her head. Of course he’d try to minimize his pain now that she’d seen it. She stepped forward and raised her arms for a hug.

Of course, she’d forgotten the floor was still slick with banana jam, and her slippers were rather useless for traction. She let out another cry of terror as her arms flailed to either side of her. 

Rather than go down like a sack of potatoes, however, she was caught up by a pair of arms and suddenly found herself very close to Spaceman.

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” she breathed back. Donna craned her neck slightly to get a look behind her. “Nearly cracked my head on the table. That would have been an embarrassing trip to the A&E.”

The Doctor had yet to let her go.

“Wouldn’t have just been the jam you had to worry about,” she joked weakly.

He didn’t laugh. Instead, he helped her regain her footing and held her, his face turning into her hair. “That’s not even comparable,” she heard him murmur. “You are important and special and wholly unique in the universe, and I would do much more than worry if something were to happen to you.”

She smiled against his shoulder since he couldn’t see. It was a good thing she wasn’t blushing!

One of his hands left her back to gesture at what remained of the mess on the floor. “And this is me getting maudlin over preserves.”

“Maybe not your best moment,” Donna agreed. “But who’s at their best without a midnight snack?” She tightened her own arms around him for a moment, then stepped back. “It’s not banana flavored, but how’s ice cream sound?”

He smiled back at her. “Absolutely lovely.”

They sat cross-legged on the floor and shared what was left of the carton. Donna never actually got back to sleep, but with her knee brushing Spaceman’s and her sides just the right kind of achy from laughing, she didn’t much mind.


End file.
